It's Cold Outside
by writergirl3005
Summary: Ever since the weather had begun to chill, so had Riza Hawkeye's mood. Roy is determined to find out what is bothering his Lieutenant so much.


Roy shivered as he wrapped his coat tighter around him. He didn't want to complain about the cold. He was already being teased about being useless in the rain, he didn't need to be teased about being useless in the cold as well.

"Are you alright Colonel?" asked Riza in concern from the driver's seat.

He gave her wan smile. "It's nothing Lieutenant, I'm just feeling very cold."

Riza turned the heater up. "Feeling better Sir?" she asked,

Roy sighed, and snuggled in his coat. "Much better. Thanks Lieutenant."

"You should get warmer clothes Colonel. Remember that winters in the East can be brutal."

He nodded. "I will." He looked over and noticed that Riza had a thoughtful look on her face. "What are you thinking about Hawkeye?"

She smiled at him. "Nothing Sir. You'll find out soon enough."

* * *

"The Lieutenant has been moody lately," said Havoc. "Anyone has an idea why?"

The others shook their heads. "No one has a clue. All we know is that it began in early October," said Furey. "It's like her mood chilled along with the weather."

Breada took a bite of his sandwich. "She hasn't joined us for lunch in two weeks. She's always snapping at everybody; even the Colonel is much more diligent in his paperwork now."

"Probably doesn't want Hawkeye to shoot him," said Havoc with a snicker, but he sobered up immediately. "What's really worrying is that she hasn't show up for target practice in a while. When I asked her why, she said it was because her hands were sore. What would she be doing to get her hands sore?"

None of them had an answer. "We'll ask her later. And hopefully we'll get an answer," said Falman.

"If she doesn't shoot us for being nosey," muttered Havoc.

* * *

"Lieutenant," said Havoc uncertainly. Why did he have to be the one to ask her? Right, he drew the short straw. He really hated his luck sometimes.

"Yes," said Hawkeye, looking him irritatedly. "If you have anything to say, better do it quickly, I have work to do."

He gulped nervously and decided that it was probably best to rip it out like a band aid. "You seem out of sorts lately and we're just worried about you. Is anything wrong?"

Her gaze softened. She managed a small smile and said, "No Havoc, nothings wrong. Anyway thanks for your concern." She returned to her work, signalling that the discussion was over.

 _Well, at least I tried_ , thought Havoc.

* * *

Roy was getting worried. Riza was two hours late coming into work today. Riza was never late. And if she wasn't coming in, she would have called by now. He couldn't focus on his paperwork in this state! Not to mention that the heater was doing very little to keep him warm.

He looked at the clock again. She was two hours and three minutes late now. _Two more minutes_ , he told himself. _Two more minutes and you can send out a search party. And no, it isn't too excessive. Don't I have a right to be worried about the woman I love?_

Roy sighed. He knew what Riza would say about that. _Sir, I won't let you misuse military resources because you got paranoid about my well-being. I can take care of myself perfectly well._

He looked at the clock again. Two hours, six minutes. That's it, he was going to send a search party. He'll take the massive tongue lashing from Riza if it meant that she would be alright.

Just as he picked up the phone, Riza ran into the room. "Sorry for my tardiness Sir," she said immediately set to work.

Everyone was staring at her. Riza looked up and raised her eyebrows. "Is there a problem gentlemen?"

Not wanting to face her wrath, the others immediately returned to their work. But Roy stood up and walked to her desk. "Hawkeye," he asked. "You're late. You are never late."

She looked up at him. "And? I can't be late once?"

Roy didn't know what to say. So he sighed again and said, "Riza, if there's anything wrong, anything at all, you'll tell me right? I can help you."

Riza graced him with one of her rare smiles. "I know that Sir. But I can assure you, the is nothing wrong. If there is, I'll tell you."

Roy wasn't satisfied with her answer, but decided to let it go.

* * *

It wasn't long before the rumours about her began. Speculation was rampant about the cause of her mood. They ranged from everything from Riza suffering a heath crisis to problems with her family to the stress of keeping an affair secret.

But as Riza grew increasingly moody, the rumours of her having an affair gained traction.

 _I heard she's having an affair with a married man._

 _His wife's probably a harpy, why else would anyone sleep with her?_

 _Do you think she might be pregnant?_

 _Well, I heard that she's planning on running away with him._

The rumours angered Roy. He hated the way they were slandering Riza. The team had asked her over and over again, but she refused to tell anybody what was going on.

He was fed up. It had been now four weeks since Riza had started behaving strangely. Pacing in his apartment that night, he decided that he'll talk with Riza in the morning. No matter what happened, he won't let her go without getting some answers.

Just then, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to see Riza, with a smile on her face and a bag in her hands.

"Riza? What are you doing here?" he asked, stepping aside to let her in.

"What no 'It's good to see you'? Or 'I've missed you?'" she teased, giving him a peck on the lips and gently stoking his cheek.

"Riza, it's just that you've been distant for the past few weeks and-"

She set the bag down and hugged him. Roy buried his head in the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry that I was distant," she said running her hands up and down his back. "But I was working on a project."

He pulled away and looked at her in confusion. "Project? What kind of project?"

She smiled again, bringing one of her hands up to stoke his hair. " I'll show you."

She handed him the bag. "Look inside."

Roy reached into the bag and pulled out a white scarf and a bonnet. He looked at Riza questioningly. "Who are these for? They're a little big for a kid." He really hoped that she wasn't pregnant. They have been taking precautions, but still…

Riza laughed. "They're for you silly." She took the clothes from him. She wrapped the scarf around his neck and placed the bonnet on his head. "There." She smiled and kissed him again. "Perfect fit."

Roy looked at her in wonder. "You made these for me?"

"Of course I did. You mentioned that you bothered by the cold and I knitted these to keep you warm." She tugged him over to the couch. The two of them sat, cuddling each other.

"Is that why you have been so busy and moody lately?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry that I was distant." She kissed him on his temple. "But I wanted to surprise you with something. It wouldn't have taken me so long if I had been better at knitting."

"So you aren't planning on running away with a married man with whom you are having an affair with and who got you pregnant?" he asked cheekily.

Riza groaned and leaned against his chest. "Do people have _nothing_ better to do than to speculate about my love life?"

Roy was grinning by now. "At least there were no rumours about you sleeping with your commanding officer."

She snorted. "It's not a rumour when it's actually true."

"Ah, but they don't know that!"

The two of them laughed.

"I love you Roy."

They kissed once more. "I love you too Riza."

They snuggled closer, just content to be holding each other in front of the warmth of the fire.


End file.
